Traditions of Tet

maI Hoa

Vietnam Lunar New Year (Tet) bears a strong national identity as it is the most important holiday in the Vietnamese culture.

The dates of Lunar New Year differ every year but it generally takes place around late January or February. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, many traditional customs with deep meaning for Vietnamese people take place, with people wishing for a peaceful, lucky, well-being and prosperous New Year.

BUYING FLOWERS

People in the north of Vietnam often choose peach blossom branches to place on altars or indoor peach trees and kumquat trees to decorate the living room while those in Central and Southern Vietnam buy yellow apricot branches. In addition to the two typical flowers for Tet, almost every home has more flowers for worship and decoration. Flowers chosen for worship flowers include marigolds, daisies, gladiolus, and lilies. Flowers brought to adorn houses at Tet include colourful roses, daffodils, dahlia, and violets.

custom and families often make Chung cake a couple of days before Tet.

Chung cakes are meaningful gifts and an indispensable offering on the ancestral altars during Vietnam’s biggest festival of the year. In Southern Vietnam, a variation of the cake is made using the same ingredients but with a different appearance.

MAKING “CHUNG” CAKE

Making “Chung” cake is a custom from the glutinous rice civilisation and is more than simply ‘wet rice’. Glutinous rice can be traced back to ancient times in the Red River Delta and is associated with the story of “Chung” cake and “Day” cake from the 18th Hung King at the time of selecting his son-in-law. These days, making and eating Chung cake is a common

THE FIVE-FRUIT TRAY

The preparation of the five-fruit tray is an essential Tet tradition in every

Vietnamese home. The tray symbolises the family’s respect for their ancestors and their wishes for the New Year. Each fruit represents a different prayer for the future. Due to regional differences in climate and customs, people display the Tet fruit in different ways.

In Northern Vietnam, people believe that the basic elements in oriental philosophy are represented by colours. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth (the five basic elements) correlate with white, blue, black, red and yellow respectively, so the northern five-fruit tray often includes banana, pomelo, peach, mandarin and persimmon. The five-fruit tray in the South is themed around the traditional southern wish for a wealthy New Year. Normally, in all regions, the tray will be put on the altar in the home, though sometimes people set it up on the table next to a box of candied fruit.

KITCHEN GOD'S FAREWELL

Every year, on the 23rd day of December according to the lunar calendar, Vietnamese people worship the Kitchen God (Ong Tao) in a special Farewell Ceremony.

One week before Tet, people clean and organise their kitchen, and buy food, paper cloths and living carp to offer at the farewell ceremony for Ong Tao. It is said that the Kitchen God’s task is to report to the King of Heaven about the family’s affairs throughout the year and to wish for a lucky and prosperous new year. After the ceremony, the carp will be set free in the nearby lake or river and paper cloths will be burned.

NEW YEAR’S EVE OFFERINGS

New Year’s Eve (Giao Thua) is a sacred tradition of saying good-bye to last year and welcoming the New Year. At midnight, people offer both indoor and outdoor ceremonies.

An open-air ceremony takes place to send thanks to the gods. The offering simply includes a boiled chicken or a pig head, cooked rice, flowers (usually roses), fruit, beverages and Joss paper. Immediately afterwards, the indoor ceremony takes place. People light incense on the altar and whisper to invite the spirit of their ancestors to come back home, celebrating the Tet holiday with the whole family and wishing for a wonderful new year. After Tet Holiday, another ceremony is held to ensure the ancestors’ safe departure to Heaven.